Monthly Archives: April 2013

Documenting a “twofold to fivefold” increase in personal problems among adolescents with persistent sleeplessness, public health researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston say they have completed the first prospective study demonstrating the negative impact of chronic insomnia on 11 to 17 year olds. More than one fourth of the youths surveyed had one or more symptoms of insomnia and almost half of these youngsters had chronic conditions. Findings appear in the March issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health and are based on interviews with 3,134 adolescents in metropolitan Houston.

“Insomnia is both common and chronic among adolescents,” wrote lead author Robert E. Roberts, Ph.D., a professor of health promotion and behavioral sciences at The University of Texas School of Public Health. “The data indicate that the burden of insomnia is comparable to that of other psychiatric disorders such as mood, anxiety, disruptive and substance abuse disorders. Chronic insomnia severely impacts future health and functioning of youths.”

Researchers measured 14 aspects of personal wellbeing and found that adolescents with chronic insomnia were much more likely to have problems with drug use, depression, school work, jobs and perceived health.

The study involved adolescents enrolled in health maintenance organizations who were screened for sleep problems and issues affecting physical health, psychological health and interpersonal relationships at the beginning and end of a 12-month-period. The initial screening was in 2000 and the follow up evaluation in 2001.

“Almost half of the adolescents who reported one or more symptoms of insomnia during the initial screening had similar issues a year later,” Roberts said. “Twenty-four percent met the symptom criteria for chronic insomnia as defined by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).” Insomnia is considered a psychiatric disorder.

The adolescent data was gleaned from Teen Health 2000, a community-based, prospective study of the epidemiology of psychiatric disorders among adolescents, which involved a structured psychiatric interview, demographic data on the youths and the household, as well as queries about stress exposure. Interviews took one to two hours.

The symptom criteria for insomnia, according to the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV, includes difficulty initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, early morning awakening and nonrestorative sleep over the past four weeks.

In the initial screening, 27 percent had one of more symptoms of insomnia, 7 percent had one or more symptoms of insomnia plus daytime fatigue or sleepiness or both, and 5 percent met the DSM clinical diagnosis criteria, which attempts to rule out other psychiatric disorders, as well as the effects of alcohol, drugs or medication, which can be confused with chronic insomnia.

Other studies indicate that chronic insomnia among adolescents can be caused by behavioral and emotional issues, Roberts said.

Roberts said adolescents with chronic insomnia were more likely to seek medical care. “These data suggest that primary care settings might provide a venue for screening and early intervention of adolescent insomnia,” he said.

Roberts’ collaborators include Catherine Roberts, Ph.D., Vivian Driskell, Wenyaw Chan, Ph.D., and Hao T. Duong, M.D., all with the UT Health Science Center at Houston. Research was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

The study is titled “Chronic Insomnia and Its Negative Consequences for Health and Functioning of Adolescents: A 12-Month Prospective Study.”

The 24th Annual Congress of the European Association of Urology (EAU) will be held from 17 to 21 March 2009 in the Stockholm International Fairs (SE). The scientific programme covers the whole range of the urological field. From ‘Bladder Unlimited’ to ‘The art of ageing’; it will all be discussed at the congress.
The traditional half-day joint sessions with regional urological groups are extended to a full-day event called EAU International Day – Urology Beyond Europe.

In Stockholm the EAU expects an estimated 10,000 delegates and 3,000 exhibitors.
The EAU aims to present the best of scientific results, lectures and educational courses. This year’s programme has a new dimension with an additional congress day on Tuesday 17 March. This day, entitled ‘Urology Beyond Europe’ endeavours to intensify the collaboration between the EAU and urological societies worldwide. Included in the programme are international joint sessions and case discussions covering selected urological topics.

Second-day highlights include the meetings of the EAU Section Office, with 14 offices and EAU-affiliated groups simultaneously holding their sessions. The section office meetings annually showcase the latest research projects and initiatives which focus on specialised fields such as uro-technology, female and functional urology, transplantation, andrology and urological imaging. ‘Bladder Unlimited’ is the focus of the European Society of Urological Technology (ESUT). The ESUT will be presenting live robotic surgery for the first time. Collaborating with the prestigious Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm, procedures such as laparoscopic and robotic cystectomies and robotic bladder surgery will be demonstrated.

From the European Society of Andrological Urology (ESAU), expert lectures and roundtable discussion will revolve on the theme ‘Testosterone and the Art of Ageing’. The manifold issues related to testosterone will be linked to discussions on endothelial cell, germ cell and other aspects in the molecular level.

In response to feedback from EAU members, the sub-plenary sessions have scheduled two separate meetings on the topics of infections (chaired by Prof. Truls Erik Bjerklund Johansen (DK)) and testis/penile cancer (chaired by Prof. Peter Albers (DE)). The latter meeting will discuss techniques in organ-sparing surgery and the latest updates on chemo and radiation therapy for testis cancer.

Third-day sessions will highlight current challenges in urology starting with a plenary session on the evolution of new technologies and treatments with particular emphasis on Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), including guest lecturers from the Pan African Urological Surgeon’s Association (PAUSA). Dr. Michael Chancellor (Detroit, USA) will give the AUA lecture entitled ‘Botulinum toxin for the lower urinary tract- past, present and future.’

On Day 4, the morning plenary sessions will focus on hot topics in prostate cancer. Providing the SIU lecture is Dr. Martin Gleave (Vancouver, Canada) who will discuss castration resistant prostate cancer with emphasis on new therapeutic approaches. Sub-plenary sessions will continue in the afternoon meetings focusing on andrology, basic science (oncology) and reconstruction.

The last day plenary session on Saturday, 21 March 2009, pays special attention to bladder cancer with guest lecturers and expert speakers taking up manifold issues and controversies. Aside from state-of-the-art lectures, debates and cases discussion are scheduled with topics such as laparoscopic surgery, challenges in bladder cancer diagnosis and bladder preservation.

Also programmed throughout the five-day meeting are interactive courses organised by the European School of Urology. The courses are limited to 100 participants; registration is necessary.

Press representatives are invited to attend the press programme, including the EAU press conference, ‘EAU TV’, a new media initiative including 7 panel discussions with experts which are posted online, and the Meet-the-Expert sessions, this year with Profs Abrams, Naber and Albers. For more information please visit eaustockholm2009.

The Western Pennsylvania Hospital (WPH) and the Gamida Cell – Teva Joint Venture (JV) announced today that the hospital is now enrolling patients to participate in the ExCell study. The trial is assessing the safety and efficacy of StemEx as a treatment for hematological malignancies, including leukemia and lymphoma, in a single arm, global, pivotal registration study. StemEx is a graft of expanded stem/progenitor cells, derived from a single unit of umbilical cord blood and transplanted in combination with non expanded cells from the same unit.

StemEx® is being developed by a Joint Venture equally owned and managed by Gamida Cell and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NASDAQ: TEVA).

“Stem cell transplantation can be a life-saving procedure, but the need for matching donors limits its use,” said Entezam Sahovic, MD, Director of the Cell Transplantation Program at the Western Pennsylvania Cancer Institute at West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh. “Umbilical cord blood is a promising alternative but does not always provide enough stem cells for a successful transplant. We are hopeful that this new technology will enable us to help more patients in need of transplants.”

Cord blood has less matching requirements than bone marrow or peripheral blood transplants, providing the potential to increase the number of suitable transplant matches and to shorten the time it can take to find a match. However, there are a limited number of stem/progenitor cells in cord blood, enabling a quantity sufficient generally only for pediatric treatment. StemEx® employs a technology that expands this small number of cord blood stem/progenitor cells, increasing their therapeutic capacity for transplantation in adolescents and adults.

Since its inception in 1990, West Penn Hospital’s Cell Transplantation Program has been nationally recognized as a leader in the treatment of patients with leukemias, myelodysplastic syndromes, Hodgkin’s disease, lymphoma, myeloma and related disorders. In 2000, West Penn Hospital physicians combined blood from multiple umbilical cords to perform the region’s first umbilical cord blood transplant in an adult leukemia patient. The hospital is one of just 41 nationwide institutions recognized as a Center of Excellence by the Myelodysplastic Syndromes Foundation.

“We are delighted to be working with the esteemed clinical team at West Penn Hospital led by Dr. Entezam Sahovic. The commencement of enrollment at WPH further advances this very important research in cell therapy and brings us one step closer to learning the effects of using StemEx as a therapeutic treatment for certain blood cancers,” said Dr. David Snyder, V.P. of Clinical Development at Gamida Cell.

The ExCell trial will enroll 100 patients, ages 12 to 55, with high-risk hematological malignancies, who do not have a matched, family-related bone marrow donor, and who meet all of the eligibility criteria of the study. For a list of other leading research centers now enrolling in the ExCell trial and more information regarding the study, please visit stemexstudy.

The Western Pennsylvania Hospital

The Western Pennsylvania Hospital is an academic medical center with two hospital campuses that serve Pittsburgh and the surrounding five-state area: The Western Pennsylvania Hospital in Pittsburgh and The Western Pennsylvania Hospital – Forbes Regional Campus in Monroeville.

The Western Pennsylvania Hospital in Pittsburgh is the first hospital in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania to be awarded Magnet recognition status by the American Nurses Credentialing Center in 2006. This prestigious 4-year designation recognizes excellence in nursing. Part of West Penn Allegheny Health System, West Penn Hospital is a leader in patient care, education, and research, and serves as the clinical campus for Temple University School of Medicine.

About Gamida Cell

Gamida Cell Ltd. is a world leader in stem cell expansion technologies and therapeutic products. The company is developing a pipeline of products in stem cell transplantation and in tissue regeneration to effectively treat debilitating and often fatal illnesses such as cancer, hematological, autoimmune and ischemic diseases. Gamida Cell’s therapeutic candidates contain populations of adult stem cells, selected from non-controversial sources such as umbilical cord blood and bone marrow, which are expanded in culture. Gamida Cell was successful in translating these proprietary expansion technologies into robust and validated manufacturing processes under GMP. Gamida Cell’s first product, StemEx for blood cancers, is anticipated to reach the market in 2011. Gamida Cell’s current shareholders include: Elbit Imaging, Biomedical Investment, Israel Healthcare Venture, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, Denali Ventures and Auriga Ventures.

Responding to a new paper in this week’s Veterinary Record by D J Bartram and D S Baldwin, which finds that veterinary surgeons are four times as likely as the general public, and around twice as likely as other healthcare professionals, to die by suicide as opposed to other causes, Professor Bill Reilly, President of the British Veterinary Association, said:

“David Bartram’s research in this difficult area is to be applauded. The more we can understand about the reasons behind the high suicide rate amongst veterinary surgeons, the more the BVA and other bodies can do to support vets in crisis.

“As part of the Vetlife Steering Group, the BVA supports fantastic initiatives such as the 24-hour Vet Helpline for vets, vet nurses and veterinary students, and the Veterinary Benevolent Fund.

“The BVA’s Member Services Group (MSG) also spends a lot of time looking at practical initiatives to improve individual vets’ day-to day lives. The recent introduction of the mediation and representation services to help resolve issues between veterinary employees and veterinary employers is a good example of the positive ways in which the BVA can support its members in difficult situations.

“The MSG also recently produced a helpline sticker for all veterinary practices to display on the medicines cabinet and other prominent places to act as a constant reminder that help is available.

“Ours is a small profession and many vets will know a friend or colleague who has taken their own life. It is essential that this issue is kept in the open so that those who are struggling know where to turn for help.”

Researchers at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Plant Biology have discovered a key missing link in the so-called signaling pathway for plant steroid hormones (brassinosteroids). Many important signaling pathways are relays of molecules that start at the cell surface and cascade to the nucleus to regulate genes. This discovery marks the first such pathway in plants for which all the steps of the relay have been identified. Since this pathway shares many similarities with pathways in humans, the discovery not only could lead to the genetic engineering of crops with higher yields, but also could be a key to understanding major human diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.

Steroids are important hormones in both animals and plants. Brassinosteroids regulate many aspects of growth and development in plants. Mutants deficient in brassinosteroids are often stunted and infertile. Brassinosteroids are similar in many respects to animal steroids, but appear to function very differently at the cellular level. Animal cells usually respond to steroids using internal receptor molecules within the cell nucleus, whereas in plants the receptors, called receptor-like kinases, are anchored to the outside surface of the cell membranes. For over a decade, scientists have tried to understand how the signal is passed from the cell surface to the nucleus to regulate gene expression. The final gaps were bridged in the study published in the advanced on-line issue of Nature Cell Biology September 6, 2009.

The research team unraveled the pathway in cells of Arabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering plant related to cabbage and mustard often used as a model organism in plant molecular biology.

“This is the first completely connected signaling pathway from a plant receptor-like kinase, which is one of the biggest gene families in plants,” says Carnegie’s Zhi-Yong Wang, leader of the research team. “The Arabidopsis genome encodes over 400 receptor-like kinases and in rice there are nearly 1,000. We know the functions of about a dozen or so. The completely connected brassinosteroid pathway uses at least six proteins to pass the signal from the receptor all the way to the nuclear genes expressed. This will be a new paradigm for understanding the functional mechanism of other receptor-like kinases.”

Understanding the molecular mechanism of brassinosteroid signaling could help researchers develop strategies and molecular tools for genetic engineering of plants with modified sensitivity to hormones, either produced by the plant or sprayed on crops during cultivation, resulting in higher yield or improved traits. “We perhaps could engineer plants with altered sensitivity in different portions of the plant,” says Wang. “For example, we could manipulate the signal pathway to increase the biomass accumulation in organs such as fruits that are important as agricultural products, an area highly relevant for food and biofuel production.”

Another of the study’s findings has potentially far-reaching consequences for human health. The newly identified brassinosteroid signaling pathway component shares evolutionarily conserved domains with the glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3). “GSK3 is found in a wide range of organisms, including mammals,” says Wang. “Our study identified a distinct mechanism for regulating GSK3 activity, different from what had been identified in earlier work. GSK3 is known to be critical in the development of health issues such as neural degeneration, cancer, and diabetes, so our finding could open up new avenues for research to understand and treat these diseases.”

The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01GM066258), National Science Foundation (0724688), U.S. Department of Energy (DE-FG02-08ER15973), and the Herman Frasch Foundation.

A high proportion of nursing facility residents were found to have low serum (blood) zinc concentrations during an observational study funded by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the National Institute on Aging. The scientists found that those with normal blood zinc concentrations were about 50 percent less likely to develop pneumonia than those with low concentrations.

The study was led by Simin Nikbin Meydani, director of the Nutritional Immunology Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University in Boston, Mass. ARS is the chief intramural scientific research agency of USDA.

HNRCA researchers have been studying immune response and respiratory infections in about 600 elderly residents in 33 nursing facilities in the Boston area. Meydani and colleagues previously reported that among the facility residents, those who consumed 200 international units (IU) of vitamin E daily for one year were 20 percent less likely to get upper respiratory infections, such as colds, than those who took a placebo.

The secondary analysis of data from the same clinical trial showed a high proportion of the residents had low serum (blood) zinc concentrations at baseline and after one year of follow-up. All participants had been supplemented with half of the recommended dietary allowance of essential vitamins and minerals, including zinc, during the trial.

Those with normal zinc status were not only less likely to develop pneumonia, they also had fewer new prescriptions for antibiotics, a shorter duration of pneumonia, and fewer days of antibiotic use compared with residents who had low zinc levels. In addition, mortality was lower in those with adequate blood zinc levels.

The study suggests that supplementation of zinc-deficient elderly may result in reduced risk of pneumonia. Still, the authors note that controlled clinical trials are needed to test efficacy of zinc supplementation as a low-cost intervention to reduce mortality due to pneumonia among vulnerable populations who already have low zinc levels.

These study results were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Kenya could destabilize the country’s social and economic sectors, according to the recently released Kenya National Human Development Report 2006, Kenya’s Nation reports. “The limited amount of resources spent on HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB intervention programs constrain the quality and range of social services — including education, health care, law and order, water and sanitation — which are often seen as basic rights and essentials for human development,” the report says. It adds that the three diseases “erode society’s capabilities to realizing anticipated development since these diseases divert resources towards emergency health care provision, away from training and growth opportunities.” According to the report, as more children contract the diseases or lose their parents to them, there will be fewer students to enroll in schools. The report also says that HIV prevalence is higher in more impoverished regions of the country, highlighting the “likely effect of HIV/AIDS on human capabilities and human development in the most affected regions.” According to the report, 75% of all police deaths in 1999 were because of AIDS-related complications, which increases the potential for crime as police capacity to address crime is reduced. Malaria, which accounts for roughly 5% of deaths nationwide and 30% of outpatient hospital visits, also has a “sporadic and yet devastating” effect on Kenya’s highland areas, the report says. In addition, there were roughly 200,000 cases of active TB in Kenya in 2005, but only 50% of cases were covered by the TB control program, raising concern that the number of TB cases could be higher, according to the report (Mwaniki, Nation, 2/28).

Being obese could lead to a greater risk of developing the most common form of renal cell cancer, according to research in the January issue of the UK-based urology journal BJUI.

US researchers found that obese patients with kidney tumours have 48 per cent higher odds of developing a clear-cell renal cell cancer (RCC) than patients with a body mass index (BMI) of less than 30. And the odds increase by four per cent for every extra BMI point.

The team at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, USA, studied 1,640 patients with kidney tumours. They found that 88 per cent had malignant tumours and 61 per cent of these were clear-cell RCCs. The remaining 12 per cent had benign tumours.

When they factored in the patient’s weight, they discovered that there was a significant association between obesity and clear-cell RCC, which accounts for up to 80 per cent of RCC cases and is one of the more lethal variants.

“Recent scientific breakthroughs about what causes clear-cell RCC have led to the development of new targeted therapies” says lead author Dr William T Lowrance.

“This makes it more important than ever to identify those people who face an increased risk of developing this variant, which is on the rise in the USA.

“The widespread use of abdominal imaging has definitely contributed to increased detection of RCC, but fails to account for it entirely.

“A number of studies have suggested that obesity could be a risk factor for RCC, but the exact reason is unknown. Researchers suggest it might be secondary to hormonal changes, decreased immune function, hypertension or diabetes in obese patients.”

The study looked at all patients who had undergone surgery at the Center between January 2000 and December 2007. Patients with hereditary renal cancer syndrome were excluded and BMI data was missing for a further 64, giving a study size of 1,640.

Key findings included:

– Patients had an average age of 62 years, 63 per cent were male and 88 per cent were white.

– 38 per cent of patients had a BMI of 30 or more, which is classified as obese, and this figure rose to 42 per cent in the patients with clear-cell RCC. By contrast, only 31 per cent of the patients with benign tumours were obese.

– 67 per cent of the obese patients had malignant tumours with clear-cell RCC, compared with 57 per cent of the non-obese patients.

– The rates for the other kinds of malignant tumours including papillary, chromophobe and collecting duct were similar between the obese and non-obese patients.

“We also looked at other health and lifestyle factors, like diabetes, hypertension and smoking” adds Dr Lowrance. “This showed that the only other factors that were independent predictors of clear-cell RCC were male gender and tumour size.”

The researchers conclude that BMI is an independent predictor of clear-cell RCC and that as BMI increases, the odds of having a clear-cell RCC also increases.

“Although we still need to find out more about the pathology of clear-cell RCC, this study is useful as it provides individual predictors of the chance of developing this form of cancer” concludes Dr Lowrance. “Of these, obesity provides the strongest association.”

Academic Press, a division of Elsevier, would like to announce the new second edition of Essentials of Stem Cell Biology edited by Robert Lanza, John Gearhart, Brigid Hogan, Douglass Melton, Roger Pedersen, E. Donnall Thomas, James Thomason and Ian Sir Wilmut.

This book serves the needs of the evolving population of scientists, researchers, practitioners and students that are embracing the latest advances in adult and embryonic stem cell research. The advent of cell reprogramming – that is, the ability to generate induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells – has transformed the entire landscape of the stem cell field. The new edition will include two entirely new chapters devoted exclusively to this topic and the scientists who made the breakthrough – Dr. James Thomson and Dr. Shinya Yakanama who are named among TIME Magazines Most Influential People of 2008. Fully revised, this full-color book continues to serve the needs of researchers, grad students, and professionals working with stem cells including those working in biology, tissue engineering, genetics, cancer research, virology, immunology, and biotechnology – groups that are eager to find out the latest information from the leaders in the field.

Dr. Robert Lanza is considered to be one of the leading scientists in the world and the eminent stem cell researcher. His works have been featured in almost every media outlet in the world, including CNN, TIME, Newsweek, People, as well as the front pages of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post, among others.

A new study done by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) indicates that the aging of the baby boom generation is resulting in a dramatic increase in levels of illicit drug use among adults 50 and older. These increases may require the doubling of substance abuse treatment services needed for this population by 2020, according to the report.

“This new data has profound implications for the health and well-being of older adults who continue to abuse substances,” said SAMHSA Administrator, Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. “These findings highlight the need for prevention programs for all ages as well as to establish improved screening and appropriate referral to treatment as part of routine health care services.”

Substance abuse at any age is associated with numerous health and social problems, but age-related physiological and social changes make older adults more vulnerable to the harmful effect of illicit drugs use.

“This study highlights the fact that older Americans face a wide spectrum of healthcare concerns that must be addressed in a comprehensive way,” said Assistant Secretary for Aging, Kathy Greenlee. “The Administration on Aging is committed to working with SAMHSA and all other public health partners in meeting these challenges.”

The latest SAMHSA short report, Illicit Drug Use among Older Adults, shows that an estimated 4.3 million adults aged 50 or older (4.7 percent) used an illicit drug in the past year. In fact, 8.5 percent of men aged 50 to 54 had used marijuana in the past year (as opposed to only 3.9 percent of women in this age group). The SAMHSA report also shows that marijuana use was more common than nonmedical use of prescription drugs among males 50 and older, (4.2 vs. 2.3 percent), but among females the rates of marijuana use and nonmedical use of prescription drugs were similar (1.7 and 1.9 percent).

Although marijuana use was more common than nonmedical use of prescription drugs for adults age 50 to 59, among those aged 65 and older, nonmedical use of prescription drugs was more common than marijuana.

The report, which examines the prevalence of any illicit drug use, marijuana use, and nonmedical use of prescription drugs, is based on data collected during 2006 to 2008 from a nationally representative sample of 19, 921 adults aged 50 or older who participated in SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health The full report is online here.